Tax on gas? It could be worse for Albertans, says CTF

By Theodora MacLeod - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on August 19, 2023.

For years, drivers across Canada have been feeling the sting at the gas pumps. With the ongoing rise in costs across the board, it seems there is little to celebrate. Albertans, however, may feel some joy to know that gas prices in the province are substantially lower than the rest of the country.
The suspension of the provincial tax on gas — implemented by former Premier Jason Kenney during the pandemic and permanently adopted by current Premier Danielle Smith — put an end to the extra 13 cent charge effectively cancelling out the 14.3 cent federal carbon tax, save for 1.3 cents.
Though the reduction in provincial tax has not been written into legislation, Kris Sims, Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, says that Smith suspended the tax with the intention of alleviating the cost of the carbon tax introduced by the federal government under the leadership of Justin Trudeau.
The Lethbridge-based Sims spoke to The Herald while in Edmonton on Thursday.
The lack of provincial tax doesn’t mean gas in Alberta is completely tax free. In addition to the 14.3 cent per litre federal carbon tax, drivers are also charged a 10 cents/litre excise tax and 6.7 cents/litre sales tax, bringing the total to 31 cents per litre in federal taxes.
Other provinces, unfortunately, are paying much more as a study released this month by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation reports that per litre, the average total tax in Canada is 54.8 cents, with Vancouver topping the list at 77.6 cents a litre, and Atlantic provinces varying from 58.7 cents to 66.5 cents per litre.
“It takes millions of extra dollars from the people,” Sims says.
Sims is travelling throughout the province to discuss the impact the suspended provincial tax has on Alberta drivers.
The average light duty pick-up truck (the Ford-F150 is the example Sims uses) would cost, on average an additional $15 to fill were the 13 cent/litre provincial tax still in effect. “That’s a roast chicken and a jug of milk from Wal-Mart or Save-On,” she explains.
Sims also says her reason for travelling to discuss this tax is also to warn of the newly announced rise in the carbon tax that will see the rate triple from now until 2030. By the calculations provided in the report, by 2030 Albertans will be paying 86 cents/litre in additional taxes with other provinces seeing the increase go to over $1 when including the provincial sales tax.
There has been much criticism of the carbon tax and Sims is not an exception. She explains that even halting all production and use of carbon emitting products and processes in Canada would do little if anything to improve global emissions. With other nations producing much more carbon gasses at a rate much higher than Canada, more must be done to help them adopt cleaner method.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is an independent, non-partisan, not-for-profit advocacy group. For more information visit http://www.taxpayer.com

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